AVS 50th International Symposium
    Processing at the Nanoscale Tuesday Sessions
       Session NS+MI-TuA

Paper NS+MI-TuA4
Low-Temperature Nanolithography using Energetic Neutral Atoms

Tuesday, November 4, 2003, 3:00 pm, Room 308

Session: Nanoscale Patterning and Lithography
Presenter: E.A. Akhadov, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Authors: E.A. Akhadov, Los Alamos National Laboratory
A.H. Mueller, Los Alamos National Laboratory
M.A. Hoffbauer, Los Alamos National Laboratory
Correspondent: Click to Email
Neutral atomic beams with kinetic energies of a few eV are exploited for etching of nanoscale features in polymeric materials and for epitaxial thin film growth on substrates held near ambient temperature. A unique low temperature etching and thin film growth technique, called Energetic Neutral Atom Beam Lithography (ENABL), has been recently developed at LANL. Using a collimated atomic beam with a small de Broglie wavelength permits the fabrication of high-aspect-ratio (>25:1) nanoscale features in polymeric substrates without undesirable defects (undercutting, tapering etc.) common to conventional etching. The high flux (~10@super17@ atoms/cm@super2@sec) and high kinetic energies (1 to 5 eV) of reactive atomic species (O and N) allow etching of sub-100nm features at high rates and the growth of high-quality oxide films at ambient temperatures. The use of ENABL for etching and film growth opens new frontiers for materials synthesis and processing at the nanoscale at ambient temperatures. Future prospects and challenges for low-temperature ENABL-based nanoscale fabrication will also be addressed.